


A Man Of His Word

by Adarian



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-09
Updated: 2015-01-09
Packaged: 2018-03-06 21:31:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3149174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adarian/pseuds/Adarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The instant Loghain meets Blackwall he knows very well the man is lying and brings him aside to have a conversation. Followed by Adaar and Tabris getting drunk and discussing their less than noble beaus. Two different kink-meme prompts that paired very nicely together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Man Of His Word

"And this is Warden Blackwall, perhaps you've met. He's mentioned he also was in Ferelden during the time of the Blight, in the south near Gwaren. Is that not where you are from?"

Loghain raised an eyebrow before glancing up the man before him. There was indeed a Warden Blackwall in that part of the country. He had even met him, just shortly before he was deployed for Orlais. They had actually made the voyage together with the rest of the regiment, though they only spoken a handful of times. But Loghain could distinctly remember Blackwall being about the same age of himself, as they had joked about Loghain being the oldest recruit Blackwall ever had. This man, however, was at least a dozen years younger than him, perhaps more.

He met the man's eyes and Blackwall looked at him unfazed. 

Loghain smirked. "Many years ago. Though I suppose the past decade has been rough for both of us, has it not?"

Blackwall's face did not break as he replied, "I suppose it has. It is good to see you again, Brother. It has been awhile since I have been among my brethren."

"I imagine," Loghain said, looking back to the Inquisitor. "Perhaps I can borrow my Brother from you for a few minutes. It would be good to catch up, in private, if I might."

Adaar waved them off. "Go ahead. We're just making camp down the hill. I'm sure you can track us down, between the two of you."

Loghain clapped Blackwall on the back and led him further away from the caverns.

"Has the Calling given you any trouble, Brother?" Loghain asked, glancing over his shoulder briefly. "It has been given me the worst pains in my knees. But that might just be old age kicking in. I am not the man I was, not even the already-aged warrior I was. You are looking well though. Not a day over forty."

"Thank you, Brother," Blackwall said, looking straight ahead.

When Loghain was confident they were out of earshot, he hissed, "Who in the Void are you, boy?"

He said nothing and Loghain continued, "You are certainly not Gordon Blackwall and you are certainly not a Warden. So I ask you again, who are you?"

"My name is Thom," he admitted quietly. "I have been serving the Order under Blackwall's name for the past seven years."

"Is he dead?"

The pretender nodded, not meeting his gaze.

"Why haven't you taken the Joining?" Loghain asked. "I must not have been the first to not sense the Taint in you."

"I have traveled alone for much of that time," he said, "and others have been...more trusting."

Loghain asked, "Did you kill him?"

He shook his head. "He died before I undertook the Joining. I feared others might suspect I was to blame instead of darkspawn."

Loghain ran his hand through his hair and took a deep breath.

"If you were hiding among the Wardens and the Inquisition, you must either be a very selfless man or an idiot," Loghain said finally. "There are easier places for criminals to disappear."

"I have done things I am not proud of," he said. "In the short time I knew Blackwall he made me want to be a better man. Please. I know you don't know me and you have no reason to trust me. But I have served the Order for almost as long as you have. I am as much as a Warden as you."

Loghain stopped walking and glared at him. "The Wardens of all Thedas are going mad, each and every one of them. They are willing to die for even the chance to save the world. I have seen men and women become heroes and martyrs. I may not have always understood that, but I do now. It doesn't matter what you call yourself. What matters is in your blood."

Thom stepped back slightly as Loghain grabbed his wrist.

"With another Warden," Loghain said quietly, "I'd be able to feel their heartbeat from feet away. At this closeness, it would be almost deafening. You and I would be able to sense any darkspawn for miles. You and I would have the same nightmares. Have you ever heard an Archdemon cry for you? Have you ever woken in a cold sweat, feeling your body slip further and further from your grasp? That is what a Warden is, boy. It is not bravery, it is death. You will never face that. So don't you dare tell me that you and I are the same."

"I can't tell her," he whispered. "Not after everything we've gone through...she'll never forgive me. Please...I'm trying to be a better man. If anyone in this world should appreciate that, it's you"

Loghain let go of him.

"Your secret is yours to keep," Loghain promised, "but know that you cannot hide from it. I am not the only one who will realize the truth. Perhaps you should decide the hour it is revealed. While you still have the choice."

Thom stood in the road as Loghain turned to go, walking towards the village. He toyed with the vial of blood from his own Joining, still hanging around his neck. He was half tempted to go to warn the Inquisitor, but he kept moving forward. He was, for better or for worse, now a man of his word.


	2. Chapter 2

Adaar went first into the great hall, the remnants of her party behind her. Blackwall-well-Thom Rainier, Cassandra, and Dorian walked tiredly into the castle. Loghain walked just behind them, almost silent since they had left Adamant.

"Loghain!"

She glanced up, seeing an elven woman push past her and the others, practically jumping into his arms. Loghain cradled her as he kissed her, his hands grasping at her as she held him. Adaar looked towards a flustered Josephine, apparently chasing after the elf.

"Inquisitor," Josephine said, slightly out of breath. "May I please present to you the Warden-Commander Tabris, Arlessa of Amaranthine."

They both paused, seeing the pair finally untangle from each other. 

Tabris stuck out her hand. "Lady Adaar. it's good to finally meet you."

"Warden-Commander." Adaar shook her hand. "I heard my Spymaster was having difficulty finding you. Perhaps you have already been informed about what occurred at Adamant."

"I came as soon as I heard," Tabris admitted, "but I arrived here shortly after Lady Montilyet received word from you herself. I have been assisting her in tracking down other resources in the area. I...I had heard there were casualties. I wanted to make sure-"

Loghain looked to Adaar. "The Inquisitor saved us, at great cost. Serah Hawke was lost to us in the Fade. I tried to take her place, but the Lady refused."

Tabris sighed in relief. "It is a shame to hear...but I thank you, Inquisitor. You have saved many of my Order. I will speak with you later, if I might. I should-um-attend to other matters."

Adaar flushed further, seeing Loghain place his hand on Tabris' hip.

"Of course," Adaar nearly squeaked. "We will have a drink together...please, excuse me, Warden-Commander."

Adaar swept Josephine away and hissed, "A little warning would have been nice."

"I thought you knew!" Josephine whispered. "It is not a big secret. The pair have been flaunting their relationship for years."

Adaar glanced over her shoulder, seeing Loghain carrying Tabris away to the guest chambers.

"When in doubt," Adaar insisted, "assume I know nothing."

****

Adaar rose when Tabris entered the dining hall, only sitting when the Warden-Commander came and sat beside her.

"We don't need to be so formal," Tabris teased as the doors were closed. "Neither of us were exactly born into this whole royalty thing."

 

Adaar smiled, relaxing, "I have to admit, I was nervous to meet you. I've heard legends of the great Hero of Ferelden for the past ten years. You seem...mortal. That's really comforting."

Tabris laughed, "Same to you. It's nice to see a Qunari who actually looks happy. Sten-well, the Arishok now, he could never take a joke. Lovely man, but so damn serious."

"See, that's the sort of thing that intimidates people," Adaar chuckled.

Tabris waved her off. "One day, you'll be doing the same thing. I'm sure Cassandra will be lauded as a saint, or Dorian will become Emperor of Tevinter or something like that. This sort of thing seems to happen to people who travel with people like us."

"You want to hear a weird coincidence?" Adaar said, leaning forward. "I heard you and I are actually related. My mother is Maryse North, Adaar now. She is apparently a first cousin to a woman named Adaia North, now Tabris."

Tabris clapped her hands together. "You've half-elven? And that explains the red hair! That's all my mother's side, I took after my father. Oh that's funny. I wonder if the Champion-"

Tabris faltered and Adaar took a sip of her wine, quietly.

"I know you did not make an easy choice," Tabris said softly, "but I have to thank you. I worried for weeks for his safety and to see him alive...well, that is all your doing. I know Loghain. He would have stayed unless you dragged him out by the scruff of his neck."

"It nearly came to it," Adaar replied. 

"Perhaps this is something I should not ask," Tabris said, pausing to drink from her goblet, "but why did you save him? The Champion would have given you a much better alliance with the mages."

"I don't know," Adaar admitted. "It just seemed like the right thing to do. Ferelden nearly fell once without the Wardens. I needed someone I trusted to lead them. Though I guess that falls to you if you're here now."

"That's honest," Tabris said with a sigh, "but whatever it was...it worked out for the two of us. I hadn't seen him in nearly a year...Maker..."

Tabris put her glass down. "Sorry, I am apparently a light weight. You don't want to hear about any of that."

Adaar said, "No....I actually...I..."

Tabris cocked her head. "You wouldn't be the first to disapprove. Trust me, I've gotten a lot of that over the years."

"I just wonder how you could forgive him, after everything that happened in Denerim. I don't mean that as an accusation or anything like that, I just-"

Tabris said, "I don't mean to be forward, but I have heard the rumours in your court. You have had Thom Rainier as your lover, before it was revealed to you who he was."

Adaar apologized, "I shouldn't drag you into this. I barely know you."

Tabris smiled. "We're apparently family. And I don't think you have many people who can truly understand the position you're in. So talk to me. I'm told I have a very trusting face."

Adaar took another a drink. "I told him I'd consider taking him back. Which I am. But I don't know how I can, knowing what I know. I know it was before he knew me and I know he's changed...but..."

"You're in a position of power," Tabris said. "You have people judging you all day. And having a treasonous murderer as a lover does not exactly look good. And all of that makes you just angrier at him and then you wonder if it's worth it or not."

"I guess so," Adaar sighed.

"Well," Tabris leaned back, "I can't tell you what to do. But I can give some advice. If you want to hear it."

"Why not?" Adaar said, pouring them both another glass.

Tabris took a sip and said, "Don't ever try to justify it to yourself. Don't keep going over what he did and try to explain to yourself that it wasn't that bad or he didn't know what he was doing or anything like that. It's bullshit. You know it. You don't need to be lying to yourself. It's just going to screw you up in the long term. You need to know if you can truly understand what he did, accept it, and move forward. It's not your duty to forgive him for past actions. But you do need to know if you can love him knowing exactly who he was."

Adaar took another drink as Tabris continued, "Now, there's the issue of lying. Clearly he was trying to protect himself and I know, no love without trust. That you can decide to forgive him for, since that was actually against you specifically."

"You seem to have given this a lot of thought," Adaar chuckled.

Tabris shook her head. "Just thinking out loud. Feel free to shut me up whenever."

Adaar asked, "So...why Loghain? Clearly you knew everything he did, even against you and the Wardens, and the Alienage."

"Trust me, that I have thought about a lot," Tabris admitted, swirling the wine in her glass. "Looking at us both as individual people...it seemed natural. We were attracted to each other, we had gone through a lot together. It just happened. But it was everything that happened before. Once people started to find out, it suddenly put this whole strain. It wasn't just who we were alone anymore. It took awhile to accept it and move forward. I wasn't with him when all that happened. I wouldn't have been. But years later, I saw the man he was becoming...maybe who he was before even, I don't know. That was the man I fell in love with. And I could live with that."

"He was worth a second chance," Tabris said softly, "but only you can decide if this guy is."

"I don't know who he is," Adaar admitted as Tabris drank the rest of her glass. "I've seen pieces of the man I thought I knew...it's hard to know what was real and what wasn't. And I'm not sure if I can bank on enough of it being true. Because I think he is a different man, and I can accept what he did. I mean, I lived as a merc for my entire adult life, I can't really judge. But it's just..."

"It's been a few weeks," she said. "Has he been different?"

Adaar hesitated. "Yes and no. He...he smiles the same. It's the same laugh. He still whittles toys for kids and plays with the dogs. He still fights for what's right. He still puts himself between any of us and danger. I can't even count the bruised ribs he's gotten defending me or one of the other mages..."

"Only you know what to do," Tabris said, turning slightly pink, "and I'm getting too drunk to tell you anything useful. But I think you know what you want."

Tabris pointed at Adaar's chest. "In there. In there you know. So trust that."

Tabris rose, swaying slightly. "Now, excuse me. I'm going to go ride my love like the stallion he is. Just, like, Warden stamina. Totally real. Sorry you didn't end up with the real thing there, because MAKER."

Adaar stood. "Let me walk you to your room."

Tabris waved her off. "I'm fine. Just tipsy. I don't normally drink and I'm not as big of a lass as you. Man. You must just smother him with your breasts. They're beautiful, nothing less than superb."

Adaar walked her to the door and signaled a servant over.

"Please help the Arlessa to her chambers," Adaar asked kindly. "She seems to have enjoyed herself a little too much. Please be discreet."

Adaar leaned against the doorframe, watching the petite elven woman walk off with a very nervous young man, who kept looking back to the Inquisitor in concern. Adaar went back towards her own chambers, hesitating when she came to the bottom of the steps. 

She turned and went out of the castle, making her way in the rain towards the stables. Adaar went through the doors and found him tending the fire.

He turned and said politely, "My lady."

Adaar said quickly, "I want to start over."

She continued nervously, "I want to get to know you as you. I don't want any secrets between us, not ever again. I need to know exactly who you are. So let's start over. Because I want to be with you. We have a second chance to be better. I don't want to waste it."

He walked towards her and asked softly, "Can I kiss you?"

She nodded before he leaned in, cupping her face in her hands as his lips met hers. She sighed as they pulled from each other.

"Thank you for trusting me," he murmured, "I will try everyday to be worthy of it."

She held him to her, letting him curl under her chin. They listened to the rain as they stood there, saying nothing.


End file.
